Symptoms of a Bladder Infection?

[Coneja]

Hello, today I took my boy Jack out while I cleaned his cage. When I was about to put him back, I noticed there were some spots of urine on the towel he was over that were a darker color than I remember seeing before: kind of a gold when they dried. I took him back out and put him on some paper towels and have been keeping an eye on him... Lots of little very small gold spots but there was a bigger pee spot when he pooed and that was completely clear fluid. He has always had a tendency to "spot" more than either of my girls. He also peed in the jar I was using to take him out of his house and that seemed fairly clear with just a tinge of color.

No changes in food or anything and he doesn't look ill: coat is good, eyes bright and he's active. He does have a yellowish tinge on his belly around his scent gland and on his scrotum, but not around the urethra. He's always had that, and I figured it just showed up because he was a male and a PEW/dove. He doesn't have a wet bottom.

Does this sound like something to be worried about? Is a bit of urine spotting normal in males? The urine doesn't look pink, but again the spots are more gold than clear, while the bigger pees I witnessed seemed clearer (although the one in the jar was hard to tell).

Thanks for any advice...

[catnut]

does he seem to be going often? I had an older male, Simon, who had some type of blockage and I did take him to the vets, he was put on antibiotics and pain meds., said without xrays he couldn't tell what exactly was wrong. He was over 2 1/2 years and unfortunetly didn't make it after afew days. I don't want to worry you as Jack may be fine but if you do notice him going often, or trying to pee and can't do more than a dribble, do get him checked, esp. if you notice blood, which Simon didn't have. I do hope your Jack is fine, maybe he just wants to mark things about more?

Take care,

Tammy

[Coneja]

Thanks... He goes more often than the girls, but I always figured it's because he's a bit skittish and pees/poos in new areas a lot more. He's a rescue gerbil so I unfortunately don't know how hold he is...

He had two larger pees when I let him out this morning: once in the jar (when I think he was getting nervous but he didn't seem to be straining or anything) and again with one of the poos... On the paper towel, this one was probably nickel sized. They were probably about 45-60 min apart and both were clearish; it's the little dribbles I was seeing this morning that were a darker yellow. Their visibility seems a little out of the norm to me.

Again, thanks for your reply (and sorry to hear about Simon... sounds like you did everything you could). Would the vet be able to tell just by looking/feeling or would they need to wait for him to pee? (I know with cats you can tell something by feeling the bladder?)

[Coneja]

I took him out for another half hour and he piddled just a couple of drops and it was a lighter yellow, more normal in color. Hopefully I'm just stressing myself out over nothing... I guess I will just keep observing and taking him out and checking.

[Coneja]

Okay, one more post tonight: I took him out this evening for about a 1/2 hour (he gets antsy after that and starts tearing up the shower curtain I put his playpen on) and he peed twice in his dust bath -an oft used bathroom spot- and they averaged the size of a pea. A third pee in the dust was smaller, maybe 1/2 or 1/3 the size of the first two. He also did some spotting around the pen: just drops and they were normal in color, although in one area it almost looked like he sprayed or something, with a lot of little small drops of varying sizes close together. He scent marks A LOT, if that makes a difference.

I wouldn't say that the number and size of the main pees were too out of the ordinary from what I've seen from him before. However, all this happened over a half hour. Does that count as urinating too frequently?

[bettina]

It sounds pretty normal to me. When one of my girls was app 2 years old, she would pee several times - just a few drops - when she was out. I think it's just to mark their territory :-)

Bettina

[catnut]

i would watch how he acts inside his cage, and if that seems not normal, then I'd worry more. I do miss Simon I just lost him in November, he was a sweet, shy boy, thank you. I don't know if they could tell, depends if the vet treats small animals regularly. If you do, I would try to take a recent sample although if he goes more when he is nervous, then you'd probably get a fresh one. if he seems to be shivering or hunched over or sleeping much more than normal, then I would get him to a vet, because that means he is in some pain.

Tammy

[Coneja]

Thank you both... He may be sleeping a little more, hard to know for sure, but I'll keep an eye on him. A couple days ago he was running vigorously on his wheel and he still pretty much destroys anything chewable I put in there. Still interested when I put fresh food in too. Today he's been kind of hopping back into his nest too, which I take as a good sign since I'd think if he was in pain he'd shuffle around more. I'll keep a closer watch though and just monitor.

Gah, these little ones can be stressful. I'm mostly used to hearing about UTIs in cats and how they can turn into blockages and that's definitely a fear of mine, although for some reason I don't see it mentioned in a lot of gerbil books/general disease info sites...

[qtoffer]

I once had a gerbil who was successfully treated for a urinary tract infection. Her urine was tinged with blood, giving it a reddish orange color. She was also visibly ill - lethargic, ruffled coat, hunched posture, etc.
I'd still keep an eye on your gerbil, but frequent small spots may be caused by out-of-cage excitement, and dark yellow or gold urine may just mean that he's not drinking as much for whatever reason. Check his water bottles - if I fill mine more than 3/4, they won't dispense.

[Coneja]

That's frustrating about your water bottles. I check mine twice a day, because I had one fail to dispense years ago when I had a guinea pig. (He was fine, but it's made me be absolutely sure they're working.)

Behavior-wise, he seems all right: positively bouncing around last night in his playpen. But yes, I'll keep a close eye on him, thanks.

[rs]

The description that qtoffer and Tammy gave is much like Teddy Bear was, minus shivering, and I know you've been on our Teddy thread, thank you! Teddy was very lethargic and had that hunched-over "guarding" position--the vet said that the bladder is achy and overstretched with a blockage, and the gerbil hunches over to guard the area. It's good to be alert with gerbils, because they often don't show signs of sickness until it's pretty far along. If your Jack is otherwise okay, don't panic, but do keep a little bit of a watch on him. If he seems to go downhill, a vet with experience and training in exotic animals should be able to identify the problem--but keep in mind that some vets and their staff get hamster and gerbil behavior confused!!

[Coneja]

Thanks. It's good to know the signs... I just haven't seen a lot about it in gerbil books. Jack's been running on his wheel and being active, so no change there.

Sounds like Teddy Bear's steadily improving. That's great news!

[Demonic Hope]

Try offering him a bit of cranberry juice or a cranberry. I offer all my rodents a cranberry a week after I had troubles with hamstes having URI and I haven't had one since doing this.

[Coneja]

Just saw this... Thanks for the tip! He seems completely normal but if cranberries (dried, fresh or frozen?) in small amounts are good, then that's something I'll try...